Criminal charges filed in Day Fire

BY ERIC LINDBERG
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

Federal authorities brought criminal charges against those allegedly responsible for starting various wildfires across Southern California in recent years, including five people indicted in connection with fires in the Los Padres National Forest.
Among those indicted is Steven Emory Butcher, 48, who authorities arrested Monday on charges of starting the Day Fire in 2006, which scorched more than 162,000 acres and cost more than $78 million to fight.

“None of the cases allege arson,” United States Attorney George S. Cardona said in a statement. “Rather, they charge negligent and illegal activity that has caused some of the most destructive fires in recent years.”
Butcher, a transient, faces eight charges, including two felony counts of starting fires that led to wildfires, which could result in up to five years in prison. Butcher is being held without bail after making an initial appearance Monday in a Los Angeles federal court.
Federal authorities also charged 41-year-old Mark Brian Taylor, of Lompoc, and 40-year-old Paul Joseph Taylor, of Tempe, Ariz., with negligence. The Taylor brothers allegedly shot an explosive device at a shooting area in the Los Padres forest in 2003, leading to the Happy Fire, a 75-acre conflagration five miles east of Santa Ynez.
In addition, authorities are charging Craig Anderson, 58, with starting the Cachuma Fire, which burned 1,100 acres and cost more than $4 million to fight. Anderson, who lives near the boundary of the Los Padres Forest, had been clearing his land with a tractor that did not have a spark arrester and had metal tire chains that may have sparked brush.
Also facing charges is 35-year-old Tina Renee Hammon, a Santa Maria resident indicted by a federal grand jury last week of starting a signal fire near Figueroa Mountain after being separated from her boyfriend the day before while on a hike. Officials said Hammon is charged with starting a fire without a permit and possession of methamphetamine.